"Yet Another Christian Blog" as the title says. Plenty of religious fluff on the internet nowadays. So how do you know which ones are right? How about the ones that follow the written Word of the Bible?

Sound too easy? It is easy! We read the Bible to learn about God's plans and will for our lives. I created this site mainly to document my studies for my own benefit and to provide some online sermons. See you on the other side?

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

You have to ask to be born again. This is what separates the gospel from religion. Religion is man's effort to try to reach God. Be it through superstition, good deeds, charity work, ect. But Salvation is God reaching down to man to make him a new creation. It can't be bought.

I present the question "What can kill a church?" In other words, what will lead to the death/destruction of a church? Can fire destroy a church? If it burns down it can be built again. What if it gets blown away by a tornado? Again, it can be built again. What if the church is made illegal? Well, then it will just go underground.

But what if the church preaches (or even just tolerates) a doctrine not true to the bible? That is what will kill a church. Take for example the churches in the book of Revelation:

God will always reward those that are faithful. Our life is a sum of responses that we have made to God's commands. God will lead us into situations that require a little faith, and if we are faithful in those little matters, God will lead into situations that require more faith. Just as Luke writes:

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Our faith and experiences with God are directly linked. Our faith in God will stay at its current level until we trust Him more. Just as the children of Israel were not willing to trust God to lead them into the Promised Land. That generation never again moved forward in their trust for God.

God will always reveal His will to you. What you do with it is your decision. How you react directly reflects what you believe. We see for example this young man:

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Jesus revealed God's will to him but he went away sad and sorrowful. He did not and could not fully trust God. He lacked the faith.

When The Lord speaks to you, it will always require a change and adjustment in your life. So the next time your are praying for something, take note that in order for it to happen you might have to make some changes in your life.

Case in point, many people pray for revival in the church, yet they themselves are unwilling or unable to change to allow the revival to take place. God used the 12 apostles to change the world even though they were just common folk. They were willing to change their lives in order to follow God's plan. The young rich man in the verse above was not.

So what adjustments are you willing to make in your life to better allow God's will to take place?

I am sure everyone agrees that God can see your thoughts and what goes on in your mind. It would seem that so many of us forget about that though. If we truly believed that, would we think about the things that we think about? I find it interesting that as Joseph was dwelling upon the situation of his pregnant virgin wife, the Lord heard his thoughts and came quickly to guide him in the right direction:

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Likewise, something similar happened with Samuel. Samuel spent many years morning over the demise of King Saul:

1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

God clearly heard his thoughts as well. If God sees and hears these thoughts, I can't help but think what else God sees in our minds. Just what exactly are be "beaming" up to God with our inappropriate thoughts? Christians, ponder on this for a minute. You can be quite a Godly person on the outside, but God sees the inside. One can easily avoid pornography and still have a pornographic mind, possibly not even fully aware of that fact. Yet God sees our thoughts. So be careful the next time you are daydreaming and thinking that your mind is a private place. It is indeed not private at all.

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

To think that you can plan out your life one year at a time is something that we have all done. Just as the subjects in verse 13 have done, they think that they can plan out their job and life year by year instead of day by day or even hour by hour. No one can predict what the future holds. In comparison to eternity, our time here on earth is very short. It is important not to get caught up in life as the subjects here and allow a job to define you.

One can try to plan ahead and navigate his path in life. That is OK. And the appropriate way to do that is listed in verse 15, "Lord willing." You too can know the will of The Lord for your life by a relationship with Jesus Christ and day by day prayer and bible study time.

3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

Clearly, God wants us to live pure lives. The greek word for fornication here is "porneia". Sound familiar? Obviously porneia is the root of the English word pornography. Many seem to think that the bible does not directly address pornography. The obvious truth is that in bible times pornography had not been "invented" yet since there were no magazines or cameras in those days. Peter again gets it right:

14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

"Eyes full of adultery" says it all. If you happen to be one of those people that thinks the bible does not address pornography, then please reconsider. Clean yourself up and see for yourself how many more wonderful things that God can do with you.

Gossip has always been a serious problem in church. One would think that in church this would not be a problem but it almost seems there is more gossip in the church than in the workplace or other places in the world. Clearly this can be linked to one of the ten commandments:

I have heard of some churches even making rules that deal with gossip, telling people that if they ever hear gossip to go directly to the person whom it is about (and bring the gossiper with you) and get the real facts. Gossip can certainly be one of the more painful and personal of all sins. There are some interesting verses about gossip:

20 Where no wood is, [there] the fire goeth out: so where [there is] no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. 21 [As] coals [are] to burning coals, and wood to fire; so [is] a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a talebearer [are] as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.